


A Savior In An Oak Tree (my true love gave to me)

by findmethestars (Atunenamedclara)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Emma Swan is an idiot, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Fluff without Plot, Humor, Idiots in Love, Regina pretends to be annoyed, Swan-Mills Family, but she loves Emma too much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-09-07 04:46:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8783680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atunenamedclara/pseuds/findmethestars
Summary: If Emma was completely honest with herself, she quite liked being saved by Regina Mills. She didn’t mean the big dramatic saves, those were stressful and dangerous and they made Regina cry and then she would pretend she hadn’t been crying so she would avoid Emma and they would make awkward eye contact and then look away and Emma really, really didn’t like that type of Regina Mills saving her.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This literally has nothing to do with Christmas, I just like the title. Emma is an idiot, Regina is a soppy mess.  
> Does this have a plot? Or did I just want you all to visualise Emma hanging one handed off a tree whilst Regina makes fun of her? Who knows.

If Emma was completely honest with herself, she quite liked being saved by Regina Mills. She didn’t mean the big dramatic saves, those were stressful and dangerous and they made Regina cry and then she would pretend she hadn’t been crying so she would avoid Emma and they would make awkward eye contact and then look away and Emma really, really didn’t like that type of Regina Mills saving her.

But she would be lying unless she admitted that sometimes, just sometimes, she went out of her way to require saving. Not all the time. But sometimes if Regina smiled at her across the diner that morning, or if she was wearing that dangerously tight shirt which made Emma feel all kind of confused emotions, she _might_ just sometimes tell Regina she needed a bit of completely necessary saving.

Like the time she dropped the keys to her apartment down the drain in the Sheriff station bathroom. Although, in all fairness, that had been a genuine accident.

But she probably could have fished them out herself.

She probably didn’t need to drag Regina away from her Very Important Meeting so that she could poof them out in a little cloud of purple smoke.

But the smoke (and Regina) was just really damn pretty and Emma was like an addict on crack cocaine. The more she got, the more she needed.

And then there was that one time where Granny had been out of cinnamon and Emma had thrown a small and vocal tantrum in the middle of the diner, and Regina who had been quietly minding her business at the back of a booth, had stomped towards them, a blur of stiletto heels and rolling eyes, demanding that Granny somehow procure cinnamon for the town’s Sheriff because “ _she was trying to read the paper and she didn’t have the energy to curse everyone back to another land.”_

Cinnamon had appeared pretty fast after that incident.

But sometimes Emma really did need saving, and Regina really was the only person who could do it. Apart from maybe the other people in the Sheriff department. Oh, and the fire department. And ok, maybe the hospital workers could help out sometimes. But apart from them, Regina really was absolutely the only other option.

So when Emma Swan found herself hanging from a large oak tree, one hand gripped precariously onto a branch, the other clutching the ball Henry had accidentally thrown up there, it was definitely justifiable to yell for someone to call Regina to rescue her.

Just when she thought Regina was never going to show up and had resigned herself to her final words being “oh crap I don’t think this branch is going to hold for much longer” she heard the familiar click of heels and tone dripping with sarcasm. Emma sighed in relief and then yelped when the action caused the branch to shake dangerously.

“Miss Swan, what the _hell_ do you think you’re doing?!” Regina’s voice floated up to her, a mix of amusement, shock and weariness at the blonde’s antics.

“Having a nap Regina, what does it look like?!” Emma yelled back, unimpressed by the smirk gracing the brunette’s face.

“I mean...why?” Regina moved closer to the tree, looking up with interest at the awkward angle Emma was positioned in. Grinning quickly, she pulled her phone out and snapped a picture, much to the dangling blonde’s chagrin.

“Henry...basketball....he asked...didn’t look high....now will you _please_ help me down?!”

“And how do you expect me to do that Emma? Whilst the endless faith you put in me is touching and a little unjustified at times, I do not carry a ladder round with me everywhere I go.”

“Can’t you like...puff me down?!” Emma yelled desperately as the branch she was hanging from began to bend downwards, the strain too much for it to handle.

“It doesn’t work like that Swan! You should have phoned the fire department!”

“No!” Emma shouted, horrified at the idea.

“Well, why not?” Regina cocked her head to the side and smirked.

“Because...well because...”

“Because what? Let me hear you admit it Emma...!” Regina sung, gloating expression turned upwards at the woman.

“Because it’s embarrassing, Regina!”

Regina tipped back her head and laughed, despite Emma’s loud complaints.

“Stop it! Regina! Stop laughing! Stop it! Are you flirting with me?! _REGINA NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR FLIRTING_!” Emma shouted in indignation as Regina winked at her, flicking her hair behind her ear.

“Emma Swan, you are stuck up a tree, holding my son’s basketball in your hand, just because you are completely _whipped_ and want to impress me by fulfilling mine and my son’s every need. It is _exactly_ the right time for flirting.”

Emma spluttered in indignation, face slowly turning red. She opened her mouth and no words came out. Like a dying fish, she opened and closed her mouth, no sound emerging apart from choked denial and the occasional expletive.

Regina nodded once and smirked “Thought so.”

“Stop gloating and help me down!!” Emma finally managed to choke out, the tree’s creaking finally bringing her back to her senses.

Regina surveyed the scene critically, humming under her breath as she tried to determine the best way to help down the ridiculous woman.

“There’s only one thing for it” she declared eventually “you’ll have to jump down.”

  
“WHAT?!” Emma yelled in shock, as she branch shook in an unexpected gust of wind.

“Oh don’t worry Miss Swan, I’ll make sure to catch you.”

“I am not jumping down! I’m like, 50 feet up!!”

“Oh don’t be ridiculous, maybe 20 at best, and even that’s pushing it. Chop chop Emma, I don’t have all day.”

“Ok but...promise you’ll catch me?” Emma asked hesitantly, the humour gone from her face, leaving a rare spark of fear behind.

“Of course I’ll catch you. I couldn’t have the saviour dying on me now, could I? Who else would pointlessly fetch me out of my meetings to fish their keys out the drain then, hmm?” Regina stated dryly, a twinkle in her eyes.

Oops. She figured that one out then.

“Ok...um...” Emma looked down at the ground, which suddenly seemed very small and very far away, and then back at Regina who nodded encouragingly, moving closer to the tree as she did.

Closing her eyes tight, ignoring the rising nausea in her gut, Emma took a breath and let go of the branch she was swinging from.

The ground rushed towards her faster than light, and she was crashing, oh god she was going to crash head first into that wretched fake grass she had thought looked nice, and oh god Henry was going to have to scrape her remains off the ground and oh god she-

Wait.

She had stopped falling. And definitely wasn’t dead. She could tell that she wasn’t dead because Regina’s arms were wrapped around her and she could hear her own breath echoing in her ears mixed with Regina’s sigh of...was that relief?

She pried one eye open and was met with Regina’s nervous face peering down at her.

“Are you alive there Miss Swan?”

Emma winked, more difficult with only one eye open than you would think, and smirked “can’t get rid of me that easily, Mills.”

“Good. You were getting quite heavy here.” And with that, Regina dumped Emma down on the ground unceremoniously, and stepped back, wiping her hands on her blazer as she did so.

“Hey! I am _not_ heavy!”

“Tell that to the Bearclaws dear.”

Emma jumped to her feet, and made a lunge for Regina who yelped and dodged smartly. She lunged once more and then, without warning, ran headfirst at Regina, who shrieked and dashed inside the house, to the bemused glances of David and Mary Margaret.

“Emma..! Chasing me..! I...! Regina panted, and then lifted her hands, teleporting away in a cloud of purple smoke.

Emma ran inside “where is she?!” She yelled, laughing as she looked around.

“Umm...she ‘ported away, sorry kid” David shrugged, not really sure what was going on.

“Dammit!” Emma stamped her foot.

That was ok though. She would just find another reason to get Regina to come back and save her some other day. Maybe she would set the house on fire microwaving a ready meal. Oooh! Or maybe she would get locked in the bathroom after accidentally leaving her clothes at the other end of the house. That seemed like a good idea. Emma grinned. It wasn’t her fault if the Mayor was so easily persuaded to help the haphazard Sheriff. She may as well use it to her advantage sometimes, right?

“Um, mom?” Henry’s voice cut into her thoughts “you left my ball in the tree...?”

Emma smirked and pulled out her phone to dial Regina’s number.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, comments and feedback is more than welcome!  
> Shira X


End file.
